Raindrops
by hikari yuuko
Summary: SasuSaku. Every single raindrop is different. A collection of Naruto oneshots and drabbles. UPDATED! 20. River "I still love you, you know?"
1. The Dress

**Standard disclaimer applies.  
Author's notes:** Hello! This is my new collection of SasuSaku one-shots and drabbles. These will vary from fluff to angst to humor and so on, so everyone can find different moods all around. That's why the collection as a whole is called '_Raindrops_' because the rain can touch each of us in a different way and leave different impressions. I hope you like them, and if you do, please remember to leave a review!! First one-shot here is more on the humorous note. Enjoy and see you on the next update!

**

* * *

**

**The Dress  
**_20.10.2006_

Yellow, he thinks, doesn't suit her. Her pale complexion and fair hair blend into the silk's color and that dress is making her look plain. Someone like her is meant to wear darker colors, like wine red to make her satin pink tresses stand out or dark blue hues to make her skin glow. An elegant black would give her poise and bring out the pink of her lips against her pale face. Her bright, sparkling green eyes go far better with these than with yellow as well. Definitely, yellow does not match someone like her.

Sasuke groans inwardly. Why is he thinking of the colors that fit Sakura's image best? Since when had he begun staring at her anyway? And, most importantly, why is he here of all places when he could be doing something far more productive like training? This was all Kakashi's fault.

The boy looks on, trying to act uninterested. Sakura twirls about in front of the full mirror, pouting at herself, sticking her tongue out in concentration as she looks for the tiniest of detail that is out of place. He can see her hesitation and that she isn't as pleased with the gown very much herself. She's been looking at her reflection for over ten minutes already and this is the fifth dress she's tried on. That's almost an hour of his life gone to the waste.

Sasuke groans again, his patience running out. He stands up wordlessly, hands inside his pant pockets, and walks over to the rack of pretty dresses lined up on the left of the small shop. He stares at them for no longer than two minutes, despite he is actually making a thorough scan of them with his sharp eyes, and takes one from the rack.

"Sasuke-kun?" she wonders out loud in confusion as she sees his action through the mirror.

"Try that one," he orders firmly as he hands out the dress to the bewildered girl, smirking smugly when she nods dazedly at him. Then he walks back to his seat on the chair by the corner and, leaning against it, crosses his arms over his chest.

"T-thanks, Sasuke-kun," she whispers, cheeks faintly pink, and she disappears behind the curtains of the changing room. "I'm sorry that Kakashi-sensei made you come with me, Sasuke-kun," Sakura's voice is heard on the other side of the curtain some moments later. "I don't know why he did it. I mean, I can do this on my own and you must have more important things to do."

'_My thoughts exactly,_' Sasuke says to himself and grimaces while closing his eyes. "Hn. It's not your fault, Sakura," he drawls out in a bored voice, but loud enough for her to hear. "Besides, your presentation is important on our next mission, so you have to have the right dress to go along with your acting." He was actually trying to convince himself this _was_ important. "Now just hurry up."

"Yes, I'm coming out!" she cries out hurriedly, stumbling over the curtain, straightening up, and smoothing her hair nervously. Sasuke produces a noise, something like a groan or a snort, but it isn't possibly a good sign. He hasn't even looked at her at all. '_Great, Sakura, just great._'

"Um, so," she looks down at her feet. "How does it look?"

He opens one eye to peek at her, and the other follows immediately at the sight of the cherry pink-haired girl. The dress hugs her frame prettily, taking the shape of her developing curves, and he finds himself liking the navy blue color of the soft fabric. Oh, maybe it's because blue is his favorite color, after all, but he didn't know it'd look so good on her. The dress is strapless but the cleavage isn't indecently low; it allows him to admire the ivory pale column of her neck, her shoulders, and a little bit more than he's seen before. He knows he is staring at her way too intently when he notices her gulp.

He looks away, embarrassed and angry at himself. "Fine… It looks fine, take that one and let's go."

"Alright." She says, glancing at her reflection on the mirror through the corner of her eye. She moves so she is positioned in front of the oval-shaped mirror. She stares at her reflection a little longer, pondering the matter herself and moving around to check her mobility. Once she is satisfied, she moves back into the dresser and a few minutes later she's out again, the dress hanging from her arm and her hair a bit ruffled from changing clothes so many times.

"I'll take this one, mister!" she calls the clerk, who nods amicably at her and comes forward to take the dress from her.

Sasuke doesn't speak until they are finally out of the store; the scowl in his face seemed permanently stretched on his face.

"By the way, Sasuke," she murmurs in the softest of voices as they walk back to the meeting place with their team.

The boy arches a brow at her at the lack of an honorific attached to his name as it is usual and understands it is meant to interest him on whatever she has to say. She turns slightly to look at him, a merry glint on her jade eyes. He doesn't like that faint twinkle or the smirk on her face.

"How did you know my size anyway?"

Damn right he didn't like that glint.

"Stop talking nonsense, Sakura!" he barks, ignoring the bright pink tinge on his cheeks. He looks away, unable to hold her gaze.

"I'm just kidding, Sasuke," she replies, a chuckle escaping her throat while she taps his shoulder.

Sasuke groans, his grip on the plastic shopping's handle back tightening when her hand lingers on his shoulder. When she takes her hand away, he can still feel her warmth seeping through his clothes and heating his skin. He shakes his head. He's eighteen, it's just hormones. _'Stop it,'_ he commands.

Sakura looks around, walking slightly ahead of him as she admires the scenery. The trees' leaves sway gently with the wind, the fallen ones rustling on the dusty road. They've taken the long way to the meeting place, the bridge, but they don't make a big deal out of it and instead enjoy the nice weather.

"Sakura, at the mission," he begins, uncertain. Sasuke is not one to be uncertain, ever. "If something goes wrong, call us through the transmission links, okay?"

Sakura looks at him, a little surprised. "Yeah… But we've done this before, so don't worry; I think the mission will go well."

"I'm just saying if something happens. Just call me and I'll find a way to get to you," he presses.

Sakura pauses to stare at him, slightly startled. He soon is walking ahead of her and as she gazes at his back, she notices right away his tensed shoulders. Smiling, she catches up to him until she falls into his same pace. "Alright, I'll call you."

"And one more thing, Sakura," Sasuke peers at her through the corner of his eye. Sakura tilts her head at him, giving him her attention. "After this is over, don't ever wear that dress in public again."


	2. Departure

**Standard disclaimer applies.  
WARNING! **Mature theme, character death.  
**Author's notes:** Thank you very much for your reviews!! This one-shot was actually scheduled to be uploaded in three weeks, but I'll put it up today given the current mood (as in, it hasn't stopped raining since last night and I have to go see a friend whose grandmother just passed away). Ah, real angst. This one deals with a mature theme, like stated in the warning above, so please go on with that in mind. It kind of gives off a sort of bittersweet feeling, so yeah. I promise next update will be happier, really! Please read and review!

* * *

**Departure  
**_17.10.2006_

She liked to think he felt something. Long, long ago, deep within the walls of his heart, there was something warm. She liked to think that under the shell, there was something akin to an emotion, whatever that could slightly resemble to love. She had tried to uncover what lay beneath the anger and the hurt. Layer by layer, one after the other, she had hoped to find that he was still human, after all.

But his blade was cold and the blood on his hands is hers. His eyes, unforgiving, stare at her. No widened pupils, no visible shock, just the serenity of a killer. She doesn't expect that, she doesn't want that. Her lungs constrict painfully as he twists the sword still embedded in her chest.

Quickly, quickly...

He wants her to part soon and she can tell. Whether he wants to go because he deems this as a waste of his time or because he is disgusted she doesn't know. Part of her wishes that it is because it's painful for him to see her like this: so ragged up, so weak, so lost.

Broken...

Her hands reach for his face, dirtying with thick, bloody traces his pale cheeks. He grimaces, the first actual gesture he makes after all this time, but doesn't step away. It seems that regardless of being used to the stench of blood, he is still uneasy. Or maybe it's because now there are tears in her eyes and it's becoming harder to breathe for her, making her pant... It must be a fairly ugly sight because the sword twists further.

Quickly, quickly...

The sword is actually the only thing that's holding her up on her feet, pinned by it as she is against the tree behind her. Her knees are wobbling, almost limp. Everything feels too heavy. It's only a matter of time before she can close her eyes and rest. For now, her gaze lowers to his grip on the sword. The knuckles are so white... She almost smirks.

She looks up at him again and sighs when realization dawns upon her. His red eyes are so black now, and wet. The frown and the grimace remain on place, and his jaw is set in hard line. He is breaking too, at last. She realizes and it's even more painful than it had been seeing him there unfazed because his sword has pierced her.

'_You can let go, I'm ready,'_ she wants to tell him, but she has no strength. The words escape her throat in a gasp. Instead of speaking, her hand drops to his chest, where she finds a heart beating wildly beneath her palm. She thinks that perhaps she isn't that quite ready to part with him, after all, but now it doesn't matter.

"Sakura..." he murmurs. The young shinobi's voice is deep and mostly tired, just about the kind of voice coming from an old man that has lived far too long and has seen far too much.

She liked to think he felt something, anything. These are her last moments and she knows. All these years haven't been worth for nothing. These have been worth it because he feels, he worries, he hurts, he cries. He isn't made of stone or ice like some people had wanted her to believe. She always trusted him to prove them wrong, and he did.

"I'll be..." she gasps for air, it really is rather excruciating to breath now, "waiting for you..."

Sasuke looks away and nods as he pulls out the sword. She tries her best not to whimper, for his sake. As soon as the blade is out, her knees give out and she drops against the floor but he catches her in his arms before she can even hit the soiled and bloodied ground. Her body is small and frail and cold, and his arms are warm and everything else she had dreamed when they wound around her.

A last smile.

"Goodbye, Sakura," his voice is hoarse and tired, like when you've cried during a long time, almost as if he knew beforehand; but somehow, it's still so very soft and gentle, "for now."

A last breath.


	3. Fears

**Standard disclaimer applies.  
Author's notes: **Hello! Thanks for the reviews! First of all, I'd like to clear up something about 'Departure'. Yes, Sakura died and she won't revive, unless you want a zombie... er, which of course you don't... That's why I said: 'It kind of gives off a sort of bittersweet feeling,' because she _departs_ but with the promise of seeing each other again. Anyway, since the last ficlet could have been a bit sob-inducing, I thought that I'd give you something exactly the opposite. So... Crack is best, right? Right...? ((sweatdrop)) See you soon, please read and remember to review!

* * *

**Fears  
**_06.11.2006_

He is sitting in his living room, zapping through channels idly, when the sounds of someone knocking his door distract him from the TV. He shuts the TV off and waits, part of him hoping that whoever is standing on the other side will eventually leave if nobody answers the door. The knocking doesn't stop. Quite on the contrary, it persists and each time the sound from the knock is louder and louder. A third and a fourth time, a fifth and a sixth, and Sasuke grows terribly irritated.

"Sasuke-kun, it's me! I have something important to tell you."

He glances at the door and sighs unconsciously. Ah, so it was _her_…

"Come on, I know you are in there!" she insists, and Sasuke has no other choice. Knowing Sakura, she'll stand outside knocking the whole day if it's necessary to bring him out because she's stubborn like that.

Grunting, the man slowly trudges to his door and opens it only to find a beaming pink haired woman. "Sakura?" he wonders in a bored tone, though what he really means is: 'What are you doing _here_?'

Sakura bears a toothy grin, a grin so childish that even makes the corner of his lips twitch in annoyance. She breathes an intake of air, lets it go, and then announces in a loud, clear voice, "I'm afraid I can't help you."

One of his eyebrows arches up in clear confusion, though he is visibly amused by the sudden and completely out of the blue statement. "What?"

Sakura is still grinning as she takes his two hands in hers and squeezes them comfortingly. "I can't help you with your clan restoration."

"But… but…" Sasuke stammers and pulls away, cheeks bright pink at the shameless proclamation. _'How does she even know?'_ he thinks, but shrugs that thought as second in importance to this new development. Sakura won't help at all…? Damn it. He intends to know why. "What the hell… are you…"

"No need to sputter nonsense," she interrupts. Sakura raises a hand up to prevent him from protesting, something he definitely wants to do. She seems so determined that, in a way, it manages to unnerve the cool boy. "I've decided, Sasuke," she speaks confidently.

"Sakura…" He tries to take her shoulders and shake her until she comes to her senses, but she notices his intentions and takes a step back.

"I'm tired of waiting," she explains, the smile still bright on her face, "so I'm marrying Hyuuga Neji. You know him, right?" This freezes Sasuke in his spot. "He's pretty much an improved version of you…"

Sasuke blinks. "Huh?"

But didn't Hyuuga have some relationship with that Tenten girl? And why does he have to care about that, anyway? What was it with Hyuuga being like _him_!? Sakura is going nuts.

"You know, handsome, broody, dark past, plus he's really nice and polite," she tells him in a good-natured, conversational voice. But then she smirks, like that girl Ino does when she is having one of her crazy fits, and her green eyes sparkle, "Our babies would be beautiful…"

Oh no, babies no! Those babies are supposed to be _his_ not Hyuuga's…! Wait! That wasn't the point! "Sakura!" Uchiha Sasuke whines as Sakura continues to rant.

…Uchiha Sasuke… whines…!?

He groans and shakes his head to regain composure. Idiocy rubs off. "Sakura!" at last he manages to shut her up.

The girl stares at him, a bit surprised. "Yes, Sasuke-kun?" she asks curiously.

Sasuke glares at her with onyx eyes. "Just one question," he hisses, "Tell me a reason why that guy is any better than me!"

"Well, Neji-kun kisses better than you do, of course!" Sakura finishes with a proud, yet sneaky smile.

"Nooooooooooooooooooooo!"

-

Sasuke wakes up panting in his couch. He looks at his surroundings as his elaborated breathing slows down. His eyes are widened with shock and there's sweat running down his brow. Apparently, he'd fallen asleep in his living room while watching an old movie on the TV.

'_What the hell was that?'_ he wonders, griping his shirt. The dark scowl taking over his face isn't a good sign. _'A bad dream?' _His knuckles turn white and then he scoffs as the nightmare quickly flashes through his mind.

"As if!" he hisses to no one in particular.

There a series of knocks on his door and he already feels a massive headache heading his way. He drags himself up from the couch and walks towards his front door. Just as he is about to open it, Sasuke stops when he hears the voice on the other side.

"Sasuke-kun, it's me! I have something important to tell you."

'_Damn it.'_


	4. Anxiety

**Standard disclaimer applies.  
Author's notes: **Thank you very much for the reviews! I'm honestly very happy with the response I've been getting. :D In this week's one-shot: Sasuke gets a taste of his own medicine! He is filled with nothing but frustration and regret after comin back from a mission gone wrong. Please read and review!

**Extra note (and shameless plug): **After putting this up, I'll post up a new story that was originally part of the collection, but somehow ended up becoming a three-part... thing. It's entitled 'Jealousy,' if you guys wanna read it.

**

* * *

**

**Anxiety**  
_09-12.01.2006_

Sasuke feels tempted to simply get up and go back home.

He can't stand the stench of the sterilized room, the blinding whiteness of the linen, the sad yellow of the walls, or the crimson blood on Sakura's wound that seeps through the gauzes. But he is routed to his spot on the chair, fingers digging into his legs in frustration. Is this the way she felt every time she has watched him by his bedside on the hospital? Because, damn it, these feelings of impotence and regret are making him want to tear everything inside the room.

He can't stand being here because the more he stays in this place, the more he thinks that all of this is his fault, that he should have thought things more thoroughly instead of acting so rashly and stupidly. If he waits any longer here and looks at her ill state, guilt overwhelms him and drives him crazy. But _she_ wouldn't leave. She wouldn't leave him alone, _never_. So he simply stays by her side and frowns at himself.

He hates the beeping sound of the tiny machine connected to her heart. He hates sensing as every drop of serum falls and runs through the intravenous. And as the hollow sound reverberates in his mind, the raven-haired, young man reprimands himself, thinking that he should have been faster, save her before she was hurt, kill the bastard who did this to her... Sasuke had been paralyzed with raw anger… and fear.

'_Why, why, why, dammit?!' He had fallen on his knees in front of her, blood red eyes turning back to terrified onyx orbs, 'Don't lose her too… Don't lose her here… Don't lose her!'_

Sakura isn't supposed to be one more patient in this hospital but the doctor in charge of treating others. She is an active woman to whom routine results in something dull. She is a woman who is used to the ups and downs of her double-profession and loves it that way. Sakura shouldn't be in this bed, much less for his sake. She should be up and about treating people and healing them with her skills.

"_Sasuke-teme, hurry up, take her away!" Naruto yelled, blocking an attack as he stepped in front of them. Naruto was battered pretty badly too. "I'll beat the crap out of them, go!!" _

Sasuke grits his teeth and groans in frustration as the memory flashes back in his mind. She had jumped in to block an upcoming attack that was coming from behind him, pushing Sasuke aside and causing him to stare at her in shock. Her barrier hadn't last long enough since most of her energy was drained from the battle and constantly healing her teammates; and consequently, she had been pierced thoroughly by a shower of shuriken and kunai, some of them even bearing small explosion tags.

"_Sasuke!" Naruto urged him in a raspy voice. Sasuke didn't seem to acknowledge him, hands trembling as he gathered her against his chest. "Damn, Sasuke, take Sakura-chan away!!"_

Their enemies were no ordinary people. These missing-nins were S-class rank, all of them, and they easily outnumbered Team 7. They had ambushed them on their camp at night. But now, the unexpected fact that such number of missing-nins would attack them collectively didn't occupy his mind. Godaime was taking care of this matter herself, after all. Naruto had been the one to take them out of the mess in the end. The boy hadn't allowed any of those ninja escape.

_Naruto growled, his aura increasing with anger as he fought off a former Cloud shinobi, there were still two more of them fighting. "What are you waiting, you idiot!? Just take her away!"_

Not once in his life had he hesitated like this time.He'd been too slow to react, only breaking out from his trance at Naruto's insistent cries and curses. And then he'd clung to her as he ran towards Konoha, praying to God in heaven, if there was really one, for her life. She couldn't die, she couldn't leave him. He wouldn't be here if it weren't for her, so if she died, then he…

She'd been so close to death. So, so close...

"Sakura, please…" he pleads. And silence meets him deafly.

His head falls against the bed as he remains sitting on the hard, wooden chair, both of his hands gripping her left arm. He wants to scream, to cry… to do something to relieve the pain eating up his insides. His fingers slips from her forearm to her hand and intertwine with her own. What he holds are calloused hands like his own, hands that are not soft and smooth like he remembered them to be, but still gentle when they touch him.

"Sa…suke…?" her voice is heard weakly.

His head jerks up almost instantly and he can tell by the look on her face that she is as surprised at the sight of him at her awakening. "Sakura…"

Something must be wrong, the girl before him thinks worriedly, because if there wasn't anything wrong there would be no way for Uchiha Sasuke to reach for her hand and hold it on his own. Much less… "Are you crying, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura hesitates before her right hand reaches up to his wet cheeks and strokes them softly.

He gathers her up very carefully and against his chest, embracing her without any notice. Sakura's eyes open widely, baffled, her face hidden by the curve of his slender neck. "Sakura…" he holds her tightly but gentle enough as if not to hurt her, "You are okay… Sakura…"

His voice is raspy, tired, and heartbreaking, and his tears begin falling on her shoulder, where his head is resting. Sakura understands then, and her arms surround him. "Yes, I'm okay."


	5. A Very Merry Christmas

**Standard disclaimer applies.  
Author's notes: **This is my gift for girlquinndreamer; also the first Christmas-y fic I've written, ever. D: So, please be kind? Ehehe? I tried to upload it earlier but my aunt's Internet wasn't working. This was _partly_ inspired on a comic strip my friend did and I colored for ourschool newspaper (as in, we two and a couple of friends asked for _permission_ at our junior high to have one and ran the paper ourselves). And, well, that's all I have to say, except for read and review and...

**:D A belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!**

**

* * *

**

**A Very Merry Christmas  
**_08.12.2006_

He arrived at Sakura's apartment exactly ten minutes after she had called him, claiming it to be an emergency and that he was needed. He'd left a plate of fresh, neatly sliced tomatoes on his table, literally plucked out his jacket and one red scarf from the closet, and hurried off to her house. Stepping on the doormat, Sasuke breathed once to regain his composure before knocking on her door.

"Sasuke-kun!" she cheered when she sighted his stoic face on the eyehole. She hastily opened the door and ushered him in. "It's great you got here so quickly. Sasuke-kun, I have a favor to ask you."

"Yeah?" he mumbled uninterestedly as he got rid of his scarf.

"Wait here for a second," she told him and rushed to her room. Sakura returned before Sasuke could even begin to wonder what this was about, this time with a set of clothes, and handed them to the stunned Sasuke.

He glanced up at her and arched an eyebrow. "Care to explain?"

She smiled brilliantly at him and clutched her hands together, "Well, could you pretty, pretty please wear that today at the Academy?"

He held the clothes with an incredulous look, finally understanding what this emergency was about, and shook his head at her. So he'd rushed to her home only for this!? His poor tomatoes, damn it… "This is stupid."

"But Sasuke!" she complained, apple green eyes on the brooding man.

"I said this is stupid, Sakura," he turned to her, dead serious. He handed back the red clothes to her and moved toward her kitchen while Sakura stayed in the living room, a dumbfounded look in her face. He filled a mug of coffee and spoke loud enough so she could him in the adjacent room, tone still serious, "No way, Sakura… I'm not wearing that thing, _ever_."

She stood in front of him as he now moved to sit on the sofa. "It's for the kids!" she argued.

"They are not _my_ kids," he said bluntly, shrugging and making himself comfortable in the loveseat.

Her eyes widened immediately. "You don't have any!"

"Well, I don't see how that's _my_ fault," he countered coolly, eyes on the newspaper he'd found on the coffee table. "In any case, it'd be yours."

"Sasuke!!" She blushed as the meaning of his words sunk in. What was it with him, really!?

"What?" he looked annoyed.

"Ugh, don't change subjects like that! Look, just this once," she begged. "It's a good cause, Sasuke-kun. Please! Naruto has agreed already."

"That's because Naruto is an idiot _and_ a wuss." He grimaced, just imagining the dobe undergoing Sakura's threatening. Because it was that, or she had bribed him with ramen to do it. Either way, he was _not_ going to give in like his self-proclaimed best friend did. "No, damn it."

"But…" She then attacked him with her puppy eyes.

"Sakura, I was trying to be nice but you're _really_ getting on my nerves," he muttered, looking away. His left eye was starting to twitch. "I'm an Uchiha. The Uchiha don't wear that ridiculous get-up," he told her. "No means _no_, Haruno. Now shut it."

"Oh, yeah, now the last name treatment. Very well, Uchiha-san!" She was getting angry too. Her face was starting to get red and her eyes were shining dangerously. "I command you to wear this thing this very minute if you don't want to suffer great pain."

Sasuke looked up from the newspaper, now seeming mildly curious. "Great pain?" he huffed, smirk on his lips. It completed the arrogant look that took over his face. "And I suppose _you_ are the one who's going to hurt me, correct? You'll be inflicting that 'great pain'?"

Sakura trembled, her hands were fisting at her sides. She wouldn't hit him; she wouldn't hit him so bad that he would cry. She wouldn't, dear Lord! Last time she did, her guilt-driven self had ended paying the bill at the hospital and looking after him.

"You are wearing this Santa Claus costume and that's it!!" She was cackling now, she definitely was.

"Heh," his eyes narrowed at her. Obviously, he didn't understand in what kind of trouble he was getting into. "Make me."

"Oh, my sweet, innocent Sasuke-kun," her eyes were glazed with a crazed glint, and that couldn't be good, "You will regret saying that."

And without further words, Sakura had launched at the unsuspicious Sasuke, effectively toppling over the nightstand next to him, pushing the lamplight to the floor, and spilling the coffee mug Sasuke so carefully placed so it was close to reach all over the small table.

-

_Three hours later…_

Naruto was busy entertaining the children that played on Santa's slide. "Look at me, kiddies!" Naruto exclaimed, his red nose wiggling as he talked, "I'm Super Rudolph! I'm the best reindeer of all!"

Sakura was clad in a green suit, long, yellow stockings, and pointy shoes, and had a green hat to complete her outfit. She was smiling from ear to ear, attention on the kids surrounding her. Next to her, a Santa Claus-invested Sasuke frowned at her as the children tugged at his sleeves and some even dared to cling to his arms.

"Santa!!" they squealed and they tugged and they wrapped their tiny, chubby arms around him.

Sasuke frowned even more. His jaw was still sore but the fake beard was effectively blocking out from sight the nasty purple blotch on his chin, and under all that amount of clothing and stuffing, his ribs were aching a bit. Sakura had not lied to him when she said he was going to regret it.

She took a moment to look at him, eyes bright with delight, and their gazes met.

Sasuke's lips were in a thin line. "I hope you know that I hate you, Sakura." His eyes, however, had somewhat softened at her. "I hate you very, very much."

Her smile broadened. "Merry Christmas, Sasuke-kun."


	6. Sometimes

**Standard disclaimer applies.  
Author's notes: **I _intended _to write a New Years fic too, just like with the previous one. I was caught up with the celebrations at my grandparent's house, so yeah... later this year... And now I'm back to school! Time goes incredibly fast lately... But, anyway, Uchiha boy being his usual brooding and angsting self. Set in Sound, previous to chapter 306 (because, uh, it was written before chapter 306 came out xD). Hope you like and enjoy!

**P.S.** In this fic in particular, Sasuke should be close to being 15 years old. Which brings me to a point I forgot to mention previously. In all these ficlets, Sasuke and Sakura are 15-17+ (depending on the theme, I guess), that is post-current arc, unless I specifically state that they are 12-13 (like in the beginning of the series). Kinda AU-ish, but not entirely so... Definitely random. xD I think I just confused myself...

* * *

**Sometimes  
**_07.06.2005_

Sometimes at night, Sasuke thinks he sees her. She is sitting on the edge of his bed, leaning against the windowsill, or staring at herself over the mirror. Sometimes he thinks of reaching to her and running his fingers through her hair that falls over her temples and touches her cheeks. She lingers there for a moment, but not once does she look at him. Whether she is not able to or doesn't want to, it is not in his knowledge; perhaps it is just his ill mind that cannot face her phantom, green eyes. But she's always there, haunting his sleepless nights.

Sometimes he screams at the top of his lungs and tells her to go away, throws a thing or two to the floor, not caring about the sleeping Sound nins in the headquarters. Sasuke understands all too well that he is throwing a tantrum, a rather nasty one at that, very much like the child that he is not and never was. But this is what the small, almost mocking smile on her pale face does to him. It unnerves him, it makes his blood boil. Why is she smiling at him like that? How derisive of her, how dare she make fun of him!?

Other times however, when the weather is cold and stormy and he is feeling much like the weather, he asks her to wait a little longer in a somewhat raspy and reluctant voice. She appears to listen to his request because she doesn't leave until it's very late. The Uchiha prodigy never begs, however, he has never needed to before, so it's no wonder to him that a simple, rough, _"Stay," _is enough to let her remain on her place. The smile doesn't fade from the red lips.

Sometimes his eyes follow the ivory column of her neck and to the pendant hidden underneath her clothes. It is that ruby-colored one he'd secretly gotten for her on her thirteenth birthday but never gathered the guts to give her. It is also the same pendant that he's been hiding inside his clothes for what seems like decades when it has really been just two… three years. It doesn't matter to him how long it has been now. He's already forgotten about the flow of time and of the seasons, and of the color of the ever-changing tree leaves. He lives in this darkened place, obscure like his very soul.

But most of the times, he simply stares at her. His mind changes her body a little because she must have grown by now too; this version of her, unlike the girl lost in his memories, has long legs and fine curves, and her white, creamy skin is untraceable of any scars unlike his own. She's still beautiful, and strong, and determined in his recollections of her, nonetheless. It is something he chose not to voice aloud before to her or even admit to himself. Annoying, weak, he spat once to the girl instead, but even he knows that there's more than that to her. So now he looks on as she chooses either to prance around his room quietly, or watch the stars through the window, or arrange her hair on the mirror.

_Sakura_, her name slips from his dry throat like an urgent plead; but he knows that she won't turn to look at him, that she won't speak back to him, and that he will not see his eyes reflected on her deep, emerald ones. Because she's only an illusion, yet another ghost of his past that he cannot forget no matter how he fervently tries to. He is fated to be haunted and tormented, isn't he?

And then, he realizes at last… What the hell has he been doing for the last half hour, staring at the empty wall, calling out a name he ought to forget?

He had settled on this as his resolve upon that day when he left Konoha, and he's done nothing but act like an idiot. Sakura is part of his past now, a past that he can not and will not return to. Not only her, Team 7 and their missions, all the people he met in Konoha and his days at the village, and the deserted section of the town he called home, all of them are in his past. He should know better than to let a single delusional moment to affect him this much. He's been an idiot.

Yes, truly an idiot. A fool.

But sometimes, just sometimes at night, Uchiha Sasuke doesn't care about being one anyway.


	7. Midnight

**Standard disclaimer applies.  
Author's notes: **OMG, it's so freakin' cold! Why do I have to live in the most humid city in the world, after Liverpool, that is...? I'm practically buried under my covers and my feet are still ice cubes... ((cries)) Anyway, this ficlet is oooold and a bit strange, but I decided I'd upload everything I've written. Sasuke and Sakura are 12-13 years old in this one, so it's set before the whole Orochimaru arc-thing. Feedback greatly appreciated as always!

* * *

**Midnight  
**_16.06.2005_

Finding herself unable to sleep, she chose to watch him silently. Her eyes traveled from the graceful curve of his neck and his perfect chin, to his fine cheekbones, to his closed eyes and the dark, long lashes brushing his cheeks, and to his smooth skin and the dark, dark bangs falling loosely over his headband. He was the picture of serenity, back straight against the tree, one elbow propped onto his raised knee. He was very quite, very still, but she was sure that his senses were at their best. She could only hope he didn't find out that she…

"Why are you awake?"

His clear-cut voice broke the silence, making the girl jerk in surprise and producing a quiet, mouse-like "_eep_" sound from her. "Sa-Sasuke-kun... How...?" Green eyes wide, she gripped the blanket tighter around her. How long had he been aware that she was not sleeping? How long had it been since he noticed she was staring at him? A fine blush graced over her cheeks as realization dawned upon her. "I'm sorry."

Ignoring her apology, he grimaced slightly in obvious discomfort. "I asked you why you are awake." He did not look at her, just merely stared seriously at the flames that trickled and creaked before him.

Sakura buried herself deeper into the blanket, the blush replaced by a neutral expression as her jade-colored eyes fixed themselves on the fire as well. "I can't sleep at all."

The Uchiha glanced down at her through the corner of his eyes. Sakura was resting barely three to four feet away from him; while Naruto was pleasantly sprawled on the other side of her, face first on the dirty ground much like half of his body. "I see."

Silence fell upon the woods, were the make-shift camp they'd built earlier stood alone between the tall pine trees and the only noises were the tweaking campfire and the hoots of an owl. Sasuke's lips curled themselves into a smirk as he tested his guess. "Are you scared?"

Sakura puffed her cheeks out. "That's not it!" she replied indignantly, fidgeting with her hands while staring quietly at the dancing flames. Not once had her eyes drifted back to him ever since he'd made that first question earlier. "I'm worried about Kakashi-sensei," she offered instead as an answer, "He said he'd catch up with us soon, but it's been three days already."

"Kakashi is always late; I don't see why you are fretting now about him." He stretched his arm to the floor to take another log of wood from the pile near him. He was more annoyed at the man than worried about him, in any case. "Besides, he can take care of himself."

She bit her lower lip, unconvinced. "I guess you're right."

He threw the log into the fire before leaning back against the tree. He glanced at the snoring blond boy, who was babbling something about food amidst his snores. "Go to sleep. There's no sense in having two team members up for watch."

The pink-haired kunoichi looked at him and sighed tiredly. "But I can't…" If she could, she would have been sleeping hours ago, even if looking at him had been entertaining enough.

He grunted to himself, resisting the urge to roll his eyes at her. "Count sheep or something," he supplied vaguely. He'd heard it helped people to drift into slumber, though he hadn't had the need to try it.

Sakura pouted, her eyebrows wriggling a little as a sudden memory of one of their earliest missions as Team 7 infiltrated her thoughts. "I don't like sheep. They smell."

Sasuke grumbled as he ran out of patience quickly. Now he really wanted to roll his eyes at her… When he entered the academy and accepted to follow the path of the ninja, _this _wasn't part of the deal. Putting little girls to sleep, of all things… "Then count whatever you like the most then. Or think of something nice or whatever…"

"Er…" her eyes were trained on him for a while, before she coughed as quietly as she could and looked away. She brought her legs tighter against her chest and her head fell onto the space between her knees. When she spoke, her voice was muffled by the blanket, "I don't think that'd help."

"Sakura," the way his voice grew serious, laced up with stern concern when he murmured her name made her look up at him. "It's past midnight, you are tired, and tomorrow will be a long day. We need to start moving already because we are supposed to reach the village by Friday; and Kakashi will arrive eventually. You are distracting me from my watch, so go to sleep now."

The boy spoke again before she could voice out her protests, raking his hair with his fingers. "Just do whatever you need to do to fall asleep."

She closed her mouth, which had been left partly opened when she had wanted to complain. She nodded, scooting over next to him and leaning against both the tree and the bewildered boy. Sakura smiled at him briefly before closing her eyes and getting ready to sleep.

"What the hell are you doing?" he gave her a pointed look, brows furrowed together in a frown.

She smiled sheepishly, her eyes completely shut, and mouthed _'falling asleep'_ to him before snuggling closer and wrapping the blanket tightly around herself. Sasuke stared at her, recovering from his initial surprise.

"Hn."

Whatever… At least she would shut up… and she wouldn't keep staring at him anymore.


	8. Emotions

**Standard disclaimer applies.  
Author's notes:** This was the first one-shot I ever shared on the SasuSaku LJ comm. It shows an older Sasuke and Sakura too, hyuu! Kinda dramatic (and PG-13), but still I think very SasuSaku-ish, so I hope you like it. Read and review!

**P.S.** I just realized it is somehow inspired in one of my favorite SasuSaku fics, too. (I just went through my list and re-read the fic after a long while and came to the realization that I must have had it in mind when writing mine). I wanted to give the proper credit, so: the fic is called _Where the heart is_, by **Sunfreak**. :D

**

* * *

**

**Emotions  
**_13.09.2005_

Sakura stares at her reflection on the mirror. The woman that looks back at her with bored, green eyes smiles nonchalantly, as though if she were thinking of some far away memory. Her satin pink hair tumbles down her shoulders, curling at the ends, touching softly the beginning of her breasts. The darkness covers her lack of clothes; the filtered moonlight that passes through the flimsy white curtains barely illuminates the side of her bare abdomen and the pale skin of her thighs. Not even a draft of air makes her shiver.

The dark haired man walks over to her quietly in careful, composed steps. Like almost everything that has to do with him, his movements are first thought over and then put into action, but this once he does not think before his two arms snake around her. One of Sasuke's arms circles her waist firmly, to bring her closer to his own body, and the other that is around her shoulders caresses her skin. His chin rests on the crook between her neck and her shoulder. His lips kiss the curve of her neck once before his onyx eyes find hers reflected on the full-sized mirror.

"Come back to bed," he whispers, in that deep, throaty voice of his that makes her heart speed up. She can feel his chest rumbling against her back as he speaks.

"Sasuke-kun…" she pauses, looking down.

His eyes narrow at this and he holds onto her a little tighter, still gently. "What's wrong, Sakura?" he demands with a tone that grows stern. He has tried his best not to sound concerned, but fails in his attempt.

She shows him a half-heartened smile, her hands reaching for his and intertwining his fingers with hers in a silent motion. His eyes narrows further as he glances at her through the corner of his eye. He finds her still smiling impassively at their combined image in the mirror.

"Sasuke," she murmurs, "Can you feel it?"

Sasuke looks back at their intertwined hands and wonders what she is talking about. The woman laughs vaguely at his confused expression, leading his hands to her belly. "Can you feel it?" she questions again and his eyes start to widen. "I don't think you do, it's still so early." There is a tone of sadness laced in her voice that causes unconscious worry to spread in his mind.

"Sakura, what are you…?" And though realization starts to dawn upon him, he allows her to interrupt him. He knows that she needs to tell him with her own mouth.

"There will be a heart beating inside of my body, like mine, like yours. A tiny person is starting to grow inside of me. It makes me happy." Sakura chokes; she can already hear both of their hearts thumping against their chests. "But Sasuke… I'm afraid too," she confesses, almost timidly.

There, once again, the lack of any suffix makes him understand that this is something important to her, something in which she needs his reassurance even when she doesn't really expect it from him. He looks away for a moment before turning to her, searching not her eyes on the mirror, but looking at her straight into her jade-colored pools. He grimaces, hating being short of words to say, and thinks over quietly about what to tell her.

What _can _he possibly tell her? He can't make promises he isn't sure being able to keep. He can't promise her that he'll stay with her forever, that he'll love her forever, because he doesn't know what the future will bring to him or if he will live up to see those days. And then there is so little he can offer. He can only give her this moment and this trampled feeling in his chest; he can only give her the present and hope with her of a future. Is it enough?

"Everything will be alright," he mutters at last. His hushed words are said half to her and half to himself, as though he is trying to convince himself of it. He needs to convince himself that it is true; he knows he wants it to be. He brushes his lips against hers in a soft and hasty kiss.

She nods simply, her body leaning against his. "Can you feel it?" She's not really asking anymore, just wondering absentmindedly and mind drifting into her own thoughts.

His eyes shut close as he hugs her, head still resting on her shoulder. "Aa, I think I do."


	9. Next Morning

**Standard disclaimer applies.  
Author's notes: **Since I'm stuck at home with a cold, I figured I'd do something productive and edit stuff so I could upload it. This is the second of three fics dealing with older Sasuke and Sakura in bed (or near a bed, like in _Emotions_, haha)... and no, I'm not weird... scenes like these just pop out of... somewhere. I tried to keep them as IC as possible but managed a bit of a fluffly ending; you'll have to read to find out! Review, please! Thanks for reading.

* * *

**Next Morning**  
_09/10.01.2006_

It is the first time he watches her sleep in the morning. He usually never stays long enough to do so, for he's always gone before dawn. But today is different. Today he awakes for the first time by the short-framed woman's side in her bed. Today the young man awakes from a long, unexpected night of deep slumber that comes pleasingly short of nightmares; it has become one of the few nights without his ghosts chasing him in his sleep. Today he thinks things could change.

At night she is like a butterfly. She's seems fragile as if about to break but she is always incredibly graceful in her every move, regal in her own way. She's always beautiful at night. But now, he decides as the soft rays of the sun hit her face gently, she looks even more lovely and ethereal than she has ever looked before in his eyes. Her pink skin glows under the pale light filtering into the room, smooth against his touch. When she wakes up, what shade of green will her eyes turn against the morning light?

His fingers run softly over her arm, the contact with her warm flesh and the heartbeat pulsing on her veins mysteriously making him grow alive. Without a warning she begins to stir and he holds his breath, but she stays asleep after that and he is able to breath once again. Instead of waking, her body reaches for his warmth and snuggles just a little bit closer to him as she wraps herself in the comforters.

He grins to himself and goes on with his observation. Then, the uncharacteristic smiling gesture disappears almost immediately only to be replaced by some other emotion he can't quite name. He frowns as his hands reach to her out of instinct, because now there's something wrong among this picture perfect. Butterflies aren't supposed to shed tears.

"Why are you crying?" His fingertips travel her cheek, crossing paths with something liquid and salty. Her eyes are still closed but her flushed cheeks are stained with small trails of fresh tears.

"Sasuke, you bastard." She opens her eyes at last, glassy green orbs boring through him once his meet them. It's a strange hue of jade he hadn't expected to see but marvels at all the same. She strangles a small sob, which comes out more like a tiny hiccup. She rubs her face but tears keep on coming. "Bastard."

"What?" He raises an amused eyebrow to match his question. Is she mad at him now?

Sakura smiles in between tears and uses her hands to wipe them away. "Nothing, nothing." She looks up at him, her lips still curved into a small smile and her eyes glistening. Her hands wander up to his perfect, pale face and to his ebony hair and his eyes fall shut as he relishes the warm feeling of her touch. "You know, Sasuke-kun, I'm really happy that you stayed."

"You knew that would happen eventually, didn't you?" he asks, unexpectedly talkative. His eyes open to stare back at her, expecting a response to meet his question, but she simply grins and keeps quiet instead of replying to him. They both know her answer anyway.

The dark-haired young man decides on playing with her locks of pink hair himself, weaving his fingers through them and letting them slip from his hold. He takes longer at staring one of the locks, as if contemplating something, before turning to her and confessing in a soft, even voice, "Sakura, I think I am… glad, as well."

She looks at him, puzzled, as he stares back at her with the same blank expression he always wears. And as she weighs down his statement, a wide smile blossoms on Sakura's face. She closes her eyes and nestles up against him. In return, Sasuke circles her waist and brings her closer, laying his head atop of hers and breathing deeply.

Sakura doesn't move away, simply sighing contentedly. "I'm relieved to hear that."


	10. Knowledge

**Standard disclaimer applies.  
Author's notes: **Firstly, Happy Valentines! I hope you had a wonderful day. (As a side note, Marketing is impressive, huh? xD) So my "gift" today is this update with a fluffy shot. This is a the third fic which I mentioned earlier would include an older Sasuke and Sakura and a bed. (And no, it's not even a lime, there are just certain... implied things there). Thanks for the reviews. I hope you like it and enjoy it!

* * *

**Knowledge  
**_01.02.2007_

Sasuke watches her as she sleeps. The dim light from the lamp on his nightstand makes her bare skin glow; and the blue, satin sheets contrast against the pale curve of her back as they rest slightly above her waistline and get tangled down around her legs. He mentally savors the ivory column of her neck, her soft cheek, and her pink lips, and ultimately understands that she is like a drug to him. She's addictive; he always ends up wanting more.

He relishes on the satisfying feeling that makes his chest throb as his dark onyx eyes fall entranced with the dance of her even breathing. His fingers roam to her neck, slightly pressing them against it and feeling her pulse pounding under his fingertips. It makes his own heart beat grow stronger. He feels real and complete, because it's _her _that's really here – next to him, with him – and not some sad dream. He feels alive, because _she _is alive – breathing, her heart beating rhythmically – and not trapped in a bloody background.

Sasuke doesn't know why he is here, why she is here; he only knows that it feels right to be here with her and no one else. He doesn't know whether he loves her, whether it is just plain attraction that makes them stay around each other like satellites falling into each other's gravity force, but what is true is that that gravity pulls him to her, strongly and soothingly. Sasuke doesn't know why his stomach clenches when he sees her or why he thinks of her in the most unlikely moments. Sasuke doesn't know if he will be able to decipher what is it that makes him want to smile when she does, comfort her when she cries, and protect her when she gets hurt.

Sasuke doesn't know many things. Not knowing many things makes him uneasy, alert, and afraid. But it only takes a simple touch from her tender hands or to hear her twinkling voice to wash the worry away. Sakura brings him relief. She soothes him, she makes him forget, she erases his nightmares at night, and for all of this, he finds it unthinkable not having her beside him from this point onwards.

His fingers trace her jaw and linger on her cheek. There is no hobby like this of watching her in deep slumber, he thinks with shameless pride. No one else but him is able to watch her like this.

She stirs, making him inch away slightly to let her move. He's already waiting to watch her eyes open to find those jade-colored irises solely focused on him. He is greeted with blurry, sleepy gaze, but he is not disappointed. Those green, green eyes stare straight into his dark ones, boring into them.

"Sasuke?" She looks up at him sleepily, eye-lids heavy. A half smile is etched on her pretty, rounded face as she props herself on her elbows. She puts all of her energy to speak, sleep significantly laced onto her words. "Is everything alright?"

His hand reaches almost in an automatic motion to play with a lock of her glossy, pink hair that falls loosely over her forehead. He admires her a little longer, gaining a curious look from the girl and making her smile widen somewhat.

Sasuke doesn't know many things. Is this love? Is this real? How is he supposed to know when he was stripped from that feeling that feels so alien to him now? How is he supposed to give her what she deserves when he doesn't know himself how to handle this of jumble of emotions?

He tries to smile back, only for her.

"It's okay," he tells her softly, smoothly, and motions her to lay back. Sakura obeys without one word of protest. "Go back to sleep."

Sakura smiles for him one last time before drifting back into dreams, safe and warm in his arms.

Whether this is love or not, he knows he'll hold onto it gently, always.


	11. Denial

**Standard disclaimer applies.  
Author's notes: **I'm in a general state of bliss (except for that nagging voice in the back of my mind saying: _study, study for your exam!_), so I thought I might as well update. I though I was done with making Sasuke-kun jealous, but it seems I wasn't. As such, today I offer romance, humor, and the slightest hint of crack (aka, crazed Sasuke-kun).

* * *

**Denial  
**_10.02.2007_

I don't know why but somehow that man's proximity to her made the wheels in my head to begin turning. What everyone perceived as a gentle touch was far off from being a friendly gesture in my mind. He was all over her. He was unashamedly ogling her and she wasn't even doing anything about it. I wanted him to tear his hands away from her and then proceed to rip him to tiny, tiny shreds.

Yes, yes… tiny shreds…

But then again…

But then again, I couldn't.

I _wouldn't_!

I was her teammate and no more; I'm barely sure if we could be called friends at the time, old acquaintances perhaps. And then, there was the fact that it wasn't supposed to be of my concern; it wasn't like I cared about her or anything either. What she did and with whom was her business only. Ultimately, I had no right to meddle in. I had no right to kill that bastard and take Sakura away.

My mind was in an uproar. Who was he? How did he know Sakura? When did they meet? Was it when I was gone? Why was he acting so familiar with her? Something inside my head was simply telling me to throw everything away, my pride, my ego, and my stubbornness, and go there and hit that guy's face. It would look bad, but I could say I was pissed off and wanted to vent my anger, which was mostly true. Sakura would surely have something to say about it, but I could pay no heed to her and she'd have to live with it.

"Oh, Sasuke-kun!" She finally turned towards me, after a lifetime of ignoring me and letting me stand there and watch. "This is Kei-kun…" she paused, and corrected herself, "Tachikawa Keiji, my colleague from the hospital. He's been out of Konoha on a mission for a while now."

'_Kei…kun?'_ I couldn't help but arch a brow at the newcomer. I was beginning to really dislike this guy already.

"Hn…"

Scratch that. I _hated_ the guy.

"Kei-kun," her attention was once again on the brown-haired 'supposedly' medic-nin. "This is Uchiha Sasuke, my old friend and teammate. I've told you about him before."

'_Take that, bastard.'_ I smirked without even noticing; but then, the smirk transformed into a grimace when I realized it. It wouldn't be good if she noticed. Still… for some reason I felt slightly pleased. So we were friends, after all?

"Yes, Sakura-san," he replied, then turning towards me. The Kei guy smiled and bowed slightly. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Uchiha-san. Sakura indeed has told me a lot about you. There is not a day, in fact, when your name doesn't come up in our conversations." He was still smiling when he rose up from the bow and Sakura had turned pink.

"Kei-kun! Stop it," she scolded, though a humorous tone was laced about her voice. She only used that tone with Naruto, whom, speaking of, I hadn't seen around all morning. "What will Sasuke think?"

Yeah, what would Sasuke think…

"Hn…"

"Well, Sakura-san," he said, once again his filthy hand stopping at her shoulder, he glanced at me and, nodding, said, "Uchiha-san. I'm afraid it's time we should part, I must meet Godaime in less than an hour and I have yet to check on my team."

"Oh! I'll go with you. I'd like to see Shishou too! There's something I need to ask her about the new poison I'm creating for my jutsu." She told him, to which he agreed with a nod. She waved at me a goodbye and smiled good-naturedly. "Sasuke-kun, I'll see you later!"

My hand instantly shot to her arm, stopping her from moving any further. There was no way she was getting away, and with _that_ guy, no less.

"Sasuke-kun?" She looked at me with those bright green eyes curiously. I forced myself to blink to be able to tear my gaze away from hers. It must have been the sun doing weird things.

"Naruto," I blurted. Even to my ears it had sounded like a brash and stupid answer to her unsaid question, but I was clearly not about to let go.

"Huh?" She looked down at my fingers still wrapped around her forearms and seemed a bit dazed, that much I could tell. Was it really surprising that I'd reach out?

"Naruto is expecting us both, remember?" I told her impatiently, my fingers prying off from her arm, "He said he has something important to show us."

"Oh, oh… Um, okay." She fidgeted a bit. When she was finally free from my grip, she turned to Kei, who'd been watching the exchange with observant eyes, and bowed slightly. "I'm sorry, Sasuke-kun is right. I almost forgot," she looked apologetic, as though it was _really_ a shame not being able to accompany him.

_Che_.

If it was so damn troublesome, she could have ditched me… _and_ Naruto instead. (Not like Naruto was actually waiting for us, but whatever.) I didn't want her to be whining later because she couldn't chit-chat with her boy friend. Because he was definitely just a boy who was her friend, only, right?

Right.

"That's okay, Sakura-san." The way he spoke her name was unnerving. He was being too familiar to her for my liking, but Sakura didn't seem to be bothered. "We'll meet another day, alright? There are still a lot of things we need to talk about."

She nodded vehemently; apparently she'd been in a rather good mood that day. "Alright, Kei-kun."

And just with that, at last, the intruder left us alone. Sakura smiled over at the rooftop where her "colleague" medic-nin had jumped onto and disappeared from.

"Sasuke-kun…" She began. I certainly didn't expect the sudden stern tone.

"What?" I sounded annoyed. I _felt_ annoyed.

Sakura turned to me, a pleasant smile on her lips. "When did Naruto ever say something like that?"

I flinched almost imperceptibly. I hadn't precisely thought about that, I just knew I had to stop her. Ah, whatever.

"Hn…"

"Sasuke-kun…" There was a warning note in her voice this once, but as if that would make me cower.

No sir.

So maybe that wasn't the best answer ever and her eye had twitched slightly, but that had never worried me in the least.

I looked away and crossed my arms over my chest, feeling indignant. What should she be mad, anyway? She'd been the one shamelessly flirting in front of everyone…

Though I _did_ understand what she was trying to imply. Why had I acted like that? Why had I lied?

Why did I, indeed?

I had no real reason to even bring Naruto into this whole thing. It had been an automatic response to watching her leave with some other random guy, which, again, had nothing to do with me. So why had I, Uchiha Sasuke, even resorted to lying to keep her here?

I didn't want to dwell on that because it was a waste of my time. I could very well spend it training rather than trying to find a decent reason for my actions when it came to Sakura. And so, I avoided thinking about it at all.

"Sasuke-kun!" she tried again, eyebrow raised in expectancy, but I stayed unresponsive. She sighed tiredly and stared at the floor, giving up. "Alright, alright… I won't keep bothering you about it. But in exchange, you'll buy me dinner tonight, okay?"

"Hn."

I turned to look at her and our gazes met for a moment. There was something in her eyes that told me that somehow, she knew _something_. What something, I did not know, but I wasn't about to let her go thinking weird theories…

I nodded, and couldn't stop myself smirking slightly as she gave out a pleased laugh. "Agreed."

¤¤¤

"Sasuke-kun?" she asked him later that night at the small restaurant. There was a smile in her face and her eyes twinkled when Sasuke looked up from his plate of ramen.

"Hn?"

"I was thinking… Could you not look like your about to kill Kei-kun next time we meet him? His boyfriend will probably be mad if Kei-kun has nightmares with you."

She had to pat his back several times then, for Sasuke was positively choking on his ramen.


	12. Inlaws

**Standard disclaimer applies.  
Author's notes:** Waahh, sorry about not updating! I've been busy with school, hehe. Also, thank you very much for 100+ reviews:D Now, about this oneshot... I certainly like making Sasuke-kun suffer in my fics, but you guys don't have an idea of how ironic it is for me to update with this particular one today... Sasuke-kun fared much better than I did...

* * *

**In-laws  
**_04.02.2007_

One Uchiha Sasuke rapped the front door of Haruno Sakura's home gently and, soon enough, it was opened by a brown-haired man who looked completely disgruntled. He couldn't avoid the grimace on his young face.

"You!" The man standing behind the door narrowed his green eyes at the newcomer accusingly.

The boy, on another hand, grunted exasperatedly at the welcoming. "Good night," he greeted curtly at the Haruno patriarch.

"Sakura-chan didn't mention you were coming," the older man declared sternly, the disapproval over the boy on his voice was evident.

"Sakura didn't mention _you_'d be home," he retorted, obviously uncomfortable under the scrutinizing gaze of his teammate's father. The two had met just recently and hadn't precisely hit it off very well.

"Well, of course," the bearded man folded his arms over his chuunin vest, not standing an inch back to let the Uchiha inside. The youngster was going to regret ever trying to steal away his little girl. "I just returned earlier than expected from a mission, a success."

"Of course," Sasuke repeated in a bored fashion; he didn't even bother to roll his eyes this once. He was already used to the boastful nature of the man (that frighteningly reminded him of Naruto's).

"Darling, who's at the…" the lady owner of the voice peeked over her husband's shoulder and stopped mid-sentence as she recognized the person at the door. "Oh, Sasuke-san! It's you!" Sakura's auburn-haired mother chirped happily, "I'll tell Sakura-chan you're here." She turned to her husband and glared at him, "Let the boy in, Hiroshi."

Her husband growled under his breath, throwing a pointed look at Sasuke before moving away from the doorstep to let him in. With a harsh nod, he gestured to the house's living room, which was visible from the entrance. "You," he scowled, "Get inside."

"Thank you, Haruno-san," he gritted his teeth._ 'Be respectful, it is Sakura's father… Sakura's father…' _Why was it that he was here again anyway? Putting up with this old man that treated him like a nosy, know-nothing brat? Ah… yes, he loved Sakura.

"Just hurry up," Haruno Hiroshi closed the door behind them, impatiently trudging after the teenager. Why was it that he let that boy inside? Putting up with the brat that tried to steal away his dear, only daughter? Ah… yes, he was afraid of his wife… and of Sakura-chan's fist.

"Sasuke-kun, you came early!" The girl in both men's thoughts exclaimed, a happy smile adorning her face as she descended the stairs. She was adjusting the brooches on her hair.

He shrugged and walked up to her. She giggled and shook her head before she leaned close for a short welcoming kiss, which he accepted willingly. He opened one onyx eye just slightly, to glance through the corner of his eye at the bristling father behind them._ 'Take that, old man.'_

Sakura broke away from him and motioned him to sit on one of the sofas in the living room. "Wait for me just a little. I'll be ready in a moment and then we can go."

Sasuke merely nodded, sitting on the couch and taking one of the magazines in the coffee table, presumably Sakura or her mother's property. He was going to leaf through the magazine when he felt the other man sit on the loveseat opposite to him instead of leaving him by himself like he'd assumed the older man would do.

"What are your intentions with my daughter?"

"Haven't we gone through this before," he replied, rather tiredly. "Haruno-_san_," he stressed the honorific. "You know already that I have nothing but good intentions towards your daughter. I love her and she loves me, so if you please leave the matter alone just for once then you'd make both of us happy."

Hiroshi frowned darkly. What a rude boy! He definitely didn't like this boy for her daughter, teammates or not. He knew quite well the background story of this guy, - heck, the whole village knew, - but he had seen up close what this guy could do to his poor, little baby. He wasn't about to let her suffer for a jerk like him again.

"Are you planning to leave her again?" he asked, still frowning and visibly disgruntled.

Sasuke frowned back at him. It wasn't the first time that Sakura's father had come up with questions like this. He'd heard this particular one at least three times already in the last three weeks. "I do not."

Hiroshi nodded. "Because if you do, I'll sure as hell hunt you down and kill you in the worst possible way."

"I said I won't leave Sakura, Haruno-san," Sasuke stated with such certainty in his words that even the Haruno patriarch had to admit he was convinced. The young man then added softly, "I never will let go of her again."

The brown-haired man crossed his arms over his chest and looked away. "Hm, I still don't like you."

"I don't need you to like me, thank you." Sasuke focused his attention on the magazine once again, his grip on it rather tight. What mattered was that _Sakura_ liked him, after all.

Hiroshi scoffed, arms crossed over his chest. "That Hyuuga Neji-san from the other day looked way better for my Sakura. Even Naruto would do, he's not that bad after all."

Sasuke's vein twitched. 'That man is getting it, I swear he…'

"I'm ready!" Sakura announced, once again coming down from the stairs, this time carrying her purse on hand. Sasuke took this as his cue to leave the magazine on the table and stand up as quickly as he could. Sakura approached her father first. She leaned on to kiss her father on his cheek, "Bye, Dad."

"Be careful," the man told her sternly after returning the gesture, brows creasing and enhancing the wrinkles on his forehead.

To this, Sakura laughed heartily. "We are only going to watch a movie and get something for dinner, dad," she replied, "This is not some mission."

Her father grunted. "Still, I want _you _to be careful," the man said, glancing at the impatient Uchiha. "If he does anything to you, you have my permission to crush his skull, okay, darling?"

Sakura seemed positively scandalized. "Dad!"

Hiroshi took no notice of her surprise, or the dark scowl on the young man's face. "Remember to get back early. I do not want you to be roaming around the streets so late at night."

"If anyone attacks us, I have Sasuke-kun with me," Sakura added teasingly, turning over to her date. She took Sasuke's offered hand and walked with him to the door. "We'll be back soon, dad."

Sasuke glanced back at the living room and smirked at the still peeved man. "Good night, Mr. Haruno."

"Remember what I told you, boy!" Hiroshi called from the leaving room as Sakura closed the door behind them.

Sasuke sighed. Ah, hell, he didn't even want to think that, depending on Sakura's answer tonight, he would have to find a way to ask this man for his daughter's hand. It wasn't going to be pretty. Oh, damn it.


	13. Beach

**Standard disclaimer applies.  
Author's notes: **Oops? I really didn't mean to take this long for another update, I was simly caught up with school and the like. This is rather old and as such shows how little progress I've made in two years... ToT (Ages still around 15-17-ish)

* * *

**Beach  
**_01/02.10.2005_

He grunts to himself, hands deep inside his pocket, and continues walking aimlessly around the town's dock bayt. It's been two hours already since he's last seen his green-eyed, female teammate, which makes Sasuke uneasy. Once again he and his idiotic mouth have said something to sadden her, moreover, something that had caused them to engage themselves into another useless argument. And while Sakura tends to get easily upset sometimes, she is in her every right to be mad at him presently. This makes Sasuke even more… frustrated.

A frustrated Sasuke isn't a pretty sight. You _don't want_ to mess with a frustrated Sasuke…

-:-:-

How had it started anyway? Let's go back several hours later…

They had been away from Konoha on a mission, one quite simple at that, that the re-formed Team 7 had been requested to aid by the Godaime herself. Said mission went accordingly to their plans: Sasuke and Sakura would be in charge of causing a distraction to confuse the missing-nins hired by a smaller village while Naruto slithered his way into the docks and retrieved the kidnapped ten-year-old son of one of the Fire country's most important daimyos. They had long ago secured the area and knocked out several missing-nins, Naruto already standing by their side, when unexpectedly one of the fallen ninja had thrown a poisoned kunai towards Sakura and the daimyo's young son.

At first, Sasuke had been enraged at the girl's reaction. She could have easily avoided the attack and make a counter of her own to put the nin back to unconsciousness, but the kunai had hit and pierced her shoulder, rather close to her neck, rather close to a certain vein. He had immediately jumped in front of her, harshly calling her an idiot along with other remarks as Naruto ran to her and the boy, and had thrown shuriken towards her assailant.

Sakura was not to be fooled by simple-made venom, and creating one or two hand-seals, she had released a jutsu to pour out the toxic substance contained on the kunai's blade and close the cut. Had Sasuke been more aware of the situation, he would have realized that if Sakura moved an inch to avoid the poisoned blade, it would have knocked the daimyo's son right away. She was a trained medic-nin and as such she had grown used to mildly harmful poisons, but the young boy's body would have not resisted the effects of the toxin and would have died within seconds.

Nevertheless the damage was done. He had insulted her, still yelled at her later for such an apparently thoughtless action, and struck speechless after a scowling Naruto barked at him about Sakura protecting the boy they had been set to retrieve for their mission. Wasn't it a ninja's goal to complete his mission no matter what? Sakura had just done that, and she hadn't risked herself or her mission because she had known what to do. Not only that, but she _knew_ she was able to do such things, unlike him, who had underestimated her capacities.

Again.

The kunoichi remained silent when Naruto stepped in her defense, only turning to glare at the taken aback Sasuke after finishing her healing and making a routinely check up on the boy. She stood up, green flaring with hurt and anger, and slapped him crossly. Stung, Sasuke walked out of the scene and left Naruto, the girl, and their charge without any other word.

He expected his teammates to return to the inn they were staying out after reporting to the daimyo and handing over the child. But for now, he decided to be on his own. It was proving to be unfruitful as flashes of her hurt expression plagued his head and the slap throbbed harder, if not physically, but in his pride.

--

But Sakura hadn't been there when he had gone back to the inn. Sasuke found himself out of the door once again shortly after.

-:-:-

He stops in mid-step, his eyes flying to the beach below him. The Uchiha boy is surprised to find her sitting by the shore, contemplating the ocean quietly. Her legs are brought up against her body and her head rests on her knees. Her pale hand reaches over her hair to pull back a loose strand of pink hair behind her ear and then she seemingly continues watching the blue sea and the rolling waves. The waves brush by her feet, moistening the sand and soaking her feet and the ends of her skirt.

He moves stealthily as his feet dig into the sand until he reaches her side. He bends down and sits next to her, onyx orbs set on her profile. "Sakura."

Her head turns his way and she looks at him with sad, green eyes. "Sasuke."

The lack of honorific makes his brow rise questioningly, she only calls him that when she's angry or being serious, but he doesn't say anything like always. He is relieved to see no stain of tears on her face, no wetness pooling in her eyes, or no red eyes and flushed cheeks due to crying. As for Sakura, whatever surprise upon his arrival erases from her mind and, like him, she doesn't make an indication of speaking.

So they simply stare at each other for a long time before a gentle laugh surfaces from her throat and a cocky grin makes its way to his face. Sakura shakes her head resignedly, a small smile forming on her face, and brings her hand to cup his cheek. His eyes widen momentarily, caught off guard by her action, but he doesn't flinch away from her touch. Sasuke can see her sighing, but he is contented to feel her beating heart pulsing until the very ends of her fingertips.

"We're very stupid, aren't we, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura whispers, barely above the sound of the waves rolling over the shore. She would only speak to him like this when they were alone. Her hand falls to her lap and he nods slowly at her, keeping his gaze intent on her eyes. "I know I made you worry, but…"

"I'm sorry, Sakura." It is him talking this time, cutting her sentence off and murmuring uncharacteristic words of apology, as he leans down quickly to press his lips against hers. The kiss doesn't last long, but it still is soft and tender. It somehow manages to make her blush after all this time.

Sasuke smirks, admiring the slight pink that he has brought upon her skin.

He finds her hand eventually, slipping his fingers around hers as they gaze together at the ocean a little longer.


	14. Reunion

**Standard disclaimer applies.**  
**Author's notes:** Whoops, over a month! Sorry! Anyways, I've had tons of ideas for a Sasuke-Sakura meeting and this is just one of them. It sort of, gives me a peaceful feeling which I hope I've been able to portray a bit. Hope you enjoy! Thanks for the reviews and please keep them coming.  
**Extra note:** Forget of the current manga events. Just suppose everything is over, Orochimaru and Itachi are dead, and Sasuke doesn't have _as many_ traumas after all that's happened.

* * *

**Reunion**  
_04.03.2007_

When they meet again, they do it under the rain. It is not the romantic scenario in love stories… It's not a dark, dark night with fireflies lighting up the surrounding trees and the crickets singing nocturne songs nor is it a warm, spring day with the cherry blossom flowers playing in the breeze. It's actually a cold winter night with just the pelting rain and them and this forest plagued by traps.

She stands very still, almost frozen in her spot, her visage hardened by years of exhaustive training and never-fading yearning. Her blade is cold, like the look in her phantom, green eyes and her mouth is curving into a smirk. This is not the same girl he remembers.

And he is there, beautiful as ever while the rain makes his dark bangs fall wildly against his pale skin and covering the red, swirling pupils. He's tall and lean and his movements are sharper than ever even under this hard downpour. He is just like the boy from her memories.

Their swords do not clash and blood is not spilled, at least not this once. The battle is dealt within themselves and within the air of tension that transpires from both.

At last, he huffs and a smug grin breaks the impassiveness of his face as his sword Kusanagi rests inside its sheath once again. In turn, her smirk morphs into a gentler smile. There is still silence, but the tension is washed away by the rain. Sakura takes a step closer, her eyes shining brightly and her kunai hitting the forest floor with a thud.

"Your eyes," she begins just as he reaches out to her, fingers grazing her cheeks with their tips, "what color are they?"

Sasuke doesn't have an answer for her and merely stands there, unblinking, while staring at her and his hand remains on her cheek. Still she smiles for him, titling her head to lean into the warmth his hand provides in the chilling winter. This is the first time he has moved on his own to touch her.

"What color do you want them to be?" He whispers, startling her for a moment. His voice is so soft that she almost, almost thinks that he is trying to be gentle.

Her perplexed expression is replaced by a tender smile. "Anything is okay," she admits calmly, "as long as you remain being Sasuke."

Sasuke nods as his hand leaves her face; and the black swirling commas and his red pupils disappear into darkness. His onyx eyes then fix themselves on her hair, her skin, her face, and her eyes. She has changed, but in a way, she's the same girl to him.

"Long time no see, Sakura."

An overwhelming sense of ease washes over her like a wave. This is her Sasuke-kun.


	15. Realization

**Standard disclaimer applies.  
Author's notes:** I like playing with Sasuke-kun. I also like it when Sakura can give him a piece of her mind. Slight crack-ish thing, hope you enjoy. And hello vacations:D

**

* * *

**

**Realization  
**_20.03.2007_

"NA-RU-TOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Sakura's yells are heard in the background as Sasuke sharpens his weapons with an annoyed scowl. Kakashi, leaning against a tree somewhere nearby, manages between reading his infamous book and watching his students from the corner of his eye. His two students have plenty of chasing and being chased around, for Naruto had failed in 'not pissing Sakura-chan off today' yet again. It's been a long while since Team 7 re-formed, but they were still the same brats he met all those years ago, most of the times.

Kakashi glances at his flared-up pink-haired student and then to the Uchiha's last heir.

"Sakura has grown into a wonderful girl, don't you think, Sasuke?" Kakashi states, his grin hidden by the mask makes his young face crinkle on the corner of his glinting eye. He's not that terribly old, of course not, quite on the contrary, he is too young to be meddling with little pricks like these. But these kids make him smile more often than not and the wrinkle he has obtained is only the result of that gesture.

Sasuke spares a glance at his teacher and notices the way his visible eye is twinkling with mirth. It creeps him out. "She's a good kunoichi," he admits that at least. Years ago, he would have probably laughed at Kakashi or simply ignored him.

"Ah, yes, kunoichi aren't ordinary girls," the silver-haired mentor smiled more widely under his mask. "But the thing is, Sasuke, that kunoichi, they are still girls, you know."

"I know that. I'm not an idiot, Kakashi," he spats. His kunai and shuriken are forgotten as he settles for glaring at the other man. The fact that the jounin seems unfazed ticks Sasuke off even more. "Where the hell are you going at?"

Kakashi regards him with a critical eye. It seems like the boy before him has no idea and yet, instead of explaining, he chooses to play dumb. Ah, there's nothing like discovering things by yourself after all; and it's not like he has time to explain everything about the ways of the world to Sasuke. He has other things to do, like reading or visiting Obito. "Nothing, I just wanted to point that out, in case you forgot."

The Uchiha huffs with annoyance and impatience. "Whatever."

He doesn't understand why Kakashi chose to 'point that out' just now. Hell, it's not like he'd forget something as obvious as Sakura being a kunoichi… a female… a girl… Ahhh, whatever.

--

Sakura bears a grin from ear to ear when she reaches the training grounds the next day. Sasuke stops throwing kunai to his targets when he feels the cheery, green chakra flow about. She greets him with a simple 'good morning' and sits on a rock as she begins dressing her knuckles with bandages.

Sasuke studies her a bit longer. _So she'll be practicing with her boulders, again… huh?_ He thinks and shrugs the matter off, though it _has_ caught his attention the particular way she is smiling.

Naruto arrives eventually, and so does Kakashi a couple of hours later. The practice comes to an end around lunch time. It is then that Sakura turns to her teammates and explains her happy mood.

"I have a date tonight," she admits. Kakashi smiles knowingly, Naruto begins to squeal and protest, and Sasuke's reaction is nothing like any of them expected.

Instead of grunting or the like, he stomps over to her and thunders, "You what!?"

Sakura blinks at him and repeats herself, the completely confused smile on her lips. "I… have a date?"

"With whom?" his voice is loud enough to drown Naruto's complaints. Though it isn't necessary anymore, for Naruto is now as quiet as he could ever be and instead looks on at his two teammates' conversation. His blue eyes are wide in astonishment at his best-friend's outburst. Where is the real Sasuke?

"With… Ki…" she halts and grimaces, "Wait a minute! Who I date with is none of your concern!"

"Of course it is!" He is yelling, he definitely is. Sasuke only yells at Naruto, and that is after the latter has used all of Sasuke's patience.

Sakura looks at him, completely puzzled. "Why?"

Sasuke hesitates once before blurting, eyes wide: "You are my teammate!"

"So?" She arches a brow questioningly. That reason alone is laughable, but Sasuke seems so intense that she realizes he is not joking.

He is actually bristling now. How can Sakura be so naive? Of course… "I have to protect you!"

"Now, do you?" she glares. This is all beginning to bother her all too much. Absentmindedly, she thinks she would have answered such a simple question had he not over-reacted over a date. Still, she goes on, as she has learned not to bottle her anger anymore. "I'm not that weak that I need to be protected on a date. It's a _date_, Sasuke, not a suicide mission."

"You are being naïve, Sakura!"

"About what?" she asks, confused, but considerably ticked off. "Sasuke, I can understand if you're worried. But I _can_ protect myself. I'm not weak like before."

"Yeah, right…" he grunts and doesn't have time to avoid the powerful fist that connects with his jaw.

That day, Sakura leaves the training grounds stomping and fists shaking, while Sasuke has to reluctantly walk home with the help of a snickering Naruto. It takes three days before she finally accepts to talk again to Sasuke… and to heal his broken arm and erase the ugly black-eye on his right that had been bruising pretty badly.

Sasuke can only curse at Kakashi, because, hell, now he understands what that little talk had been about.

"_Sakura has grown into a wonderful girl…"_

And he still has to find out about that… _date_. Ugh.

"_Sakura has grown into a wonderful girl…"_

Damn. It. All.

--

Ino brushes her hair with her fingers and turns to her best-friend. "So Sakura-chan, how was your 'date'?" The smirk on the blond's face is wicked, definitely wicked.

She turns to Ino with a coy smile, raising to fingers in the sign of victory and sticking out her tongue. "Success! Sasuke-kun completely bought it."

Ino chuckles. "Poor, poor Sasuke-kun. But at least he is _awake_ now, isn't he?"

Sakura merely chuckles as well.


	16. Harunosan Strikes Back

**Standard disclaimer applies. And... I own Haruno Hiroshi!  
****Author's notes:** I'm happy, so I'm updating. xD This is for those who wanted to see a bit more of Sasuke struggling with Haruno-san. _XXDragonheart6XX_, I tried to write something about asking Sakura's hand in marriage, but this idea seemed more amusing to me, somehow. Hope you all enjoy!

**NOTE!** This is a sequel to _"In-Laws"_

* * *

**Haruno-san Strikes Back  
**_06.05.2007_

The door banged open, hinges creaking, and there was some stomping until the feet stopped right in front of him. "You!!"

Sasuke glanced up, found the panting man standing in front of him, and looked back down at his newspaper. He changed the page calmly, reading glasses on, "So you've heard the news."

"How could you do that to my precious daughter!?" The older man was obviously upset. Today, his grey hairs were showing a lot more than usual and his tone of voice was that of complete and utter distress. He hadn't been this edgy in a while.

Sasuke sighed, folding the newspaper and putting down on the spot beside him on the couch. He knew he wasn't going to get around reading anything if this man was here. When Haruno Hiroshi threw a fit, he caught all the attention.

The brown-haired man was currently pointing at him and glaring at him so angrily that if looks could kill, he'd be fifty meters below the ground. "You… you insensitive, spoiled brat," he shrieked. "How could you?"

"Well, I'm her husband." He replied matter-of-factly, a certain pride in his words. Then added in a slightly more devious voice, "And it's not like _she_ didn't want it, either."

Haruno harrumphed, his mustache wiggling. "I just can't understand…" he paused dramatically, voice turning into the lowest of whispers, "…how? My sweetest daughter…"

Sasuke grimaced. "I'm taking that's a rhetorical question."

"Of course it is!" Hiroshi exclaimed wildly, eyes wide now back on his daughter's tactless spouse. He never EVER wanted to hear about her little, precious daughter in that way. No way in hell! "Ah, I shouldn't have let my daughter marry this guy, geez!" He cried aloud, bright green eyes tearing up.

The dark-haired young man observed his father-in-law, who was currently the exact replica of his wife when she was having a nervous break down. "Have you taken your pill yet, Haruno-san?"

That little pill Tsunade had made for Haruno-san's nerves was truly miraculous. It had made wonders during Sasuke and Sakura's wedding. And combined with the booze, the old man had even _hugged_ him. Not that he was fond of that memory, however.

"What are you implying!?" Brown eyebrows furrowed together, a scowl on his face.

"Nothing, it's just that you seem a bit euphoric." Sasuke stood up as the older man plopped onto the sofa in front of his. He moved to the kitchen and brought back two cups. Only his was extra-charged coffee; the other man didn't need any other stimulants in his system right now, so he opted for tea.

He sipped his coffee and looked back at the man, his face the epitome of tranquility. He had learned how to handle this man, a bit. "And shouldn't you be happy about it, anyways, Haruno-san?"

"Well, yes." Haruno-san mumbled, swallowing his green tea in one gulp. Sasuke raised his eyebrows, the thing had been practically boiling when he stood up moments ago and turned the stove off. "Well, yes, I suppose."

"It's not every day you get to be a grandfather." Sasuke interjected testily.

"Yes, yes…" the man muttered, his fingers running through his gray hair. He seemed to be taking things slightly better. Then he added, "And of twins, of all things."

There was a crash and cursing ensued.

The old man looked up to find his son-in-law openly cursing at the broken cup of coffee at his feet. The younger-nin looked positively distraught. A sudden bulb lit in his mind, his daughter wasn't the smartest ninja for nothing.

"What the hell?" The Uchiha was muttering as he kneeled to collect the broken pieces.

So the Uchiha didn't know about this little fact. He was going to take as much pleasure toying with the boy as he could. He had never really come to terms with the dark-haired man marrying his daughter, so bothering him as much as he could was the only way he found some release.

"Two beautiful grandchildren," Hiroshi stated, now more calmly, as Sasuke looked up and rested a fixed stare on him. "Perhaps if there's a boy Sakura-chan will name him after me. Sakura-chan loves her daddy so much, after all. I wonder if they'll take after me?"

_(Crash)_

"Damn!" The pieces Sasuke had gathered were once again on the floor. He looked up at the man and glared openly at him.

"What?" Hiroshi asked innocently, he wasn't even flinching at the trademark Uchiha glare. "Imagine me and those little ones playing all the time. Me, teaching them about the good things in life, and them, showering me with their love! It's going to be so much fun!"

Sasuke scowled. "You wish…"

There was something definitively evil in the older man's eyes that reminded him of Sakura when she went on a craze. He always ended up with broken bones and severe injures when she did. Sasuke did his best not to shudder at the mental image. It wouldn't be good to show this weak side to the older man, especially not right now.

"I'm gonna be those kids' _favorite_ grandfather, always."

The challenge was out there in the open now. Loud and clear.

Hiroshi smirked bluntly this time; his green eyes that were too much like Sakura's were really glowing. Sasuke could only frown.

_Uchiha Sasuke 2, Hiroshi Haruno 2. _

_And the show goes on._


	17. Home

**Standard disclaimer applies.**  
**Author's notes:** Hello, hello! I realize it's been a while, but I'm back with another piece. This is another of the ideas I had for Sasuke-Sakura meeting, much like **Reunion** was. It's kind awkward at some point and then gets back to track, but that's just the way I am... D: Maybe I'll fix it eventually, maybe not. But anyway, just wanted to thank you for the support these little ficlets have received! You people are the best! Thanks!  
**Extra note:** Again, please forget of the current manga events (which, OMG, are so damn good) and just suppose everything is over.

* * *

**Home  
**_04.07.2007_

There is something surprisingly comforting when his arm gently circles her waist as he stands two steps behind her. Her hands long to touch his. And then he places his lips against her bare neck in a hesitant kiss that makes her tremble. His grip on her waist becomes tighter, firmer. She notices how he is suddenly closer, much closer, to the point were she can feel his chest against her back as it rises and falls in the smooth dance that is his breathing. She feels small against him and knows that a false movement might break her.

He murmurs something in her ear, her name or the like; no sweet words and yet it doesn't matter. It makes her feel loved all the same. He is whispering again, lips brushing her ear gently and teasingly. He asks for her consent and she wants to giggle but manages to stop such an outburst. She'd never imagine he'd be this shy.

Does he have to even ask?

_Of course not. _

She loves him, she told him so long ago, and nothing about her love for him has changed. If anything, the feeling has only matured and grown strong enough that she can even grasp it and understand it at last… He shouldn't ask; there's no real need. She turns around to look at him, unafraid to show him the blush adorning her cheeks. He doesn't look away, just stares coolly at her with onyx pools that reveal nothing but uncertainty… and something like love.

He dips down to kiss her and surprises her yet again with his sudden initiative. His previous words were part of the formality that characterizes him, she quickly realizes, as the fact that he didn't really care to wait for her response sinks in. And she smiles, because this is the Sasuke she knows.

She can feel his tongue intruding her mouth, teasing her, tasting her. She can also taste him: bitter and sweet and something else that's far beyond her comprehension. His kiss is everything and nothing at all like she'd imagined it would be. He draws her closer, deepens the kiss further, and suppresses a groan.

They break apart to get some air back into their lungs. Both their chests rise and fall in shallow breathing, pressed against each other. His thigh grazes hers; the heat seeps through their clothes and reaches her skin. He presses desperate kisses against her lips and neck then, making her feverish.

It's been too long since they've last seen each other. It feels like he is thinking she might disappear in thin air. But she is there… flesh and bone and mind and heart and all for him. She wants him to know this, so she takes it upon herself to make him understand. She kisses his closed eyelids, lips trailing down his nose and cheeks to his jaw line.

"Sasuke…kun," she murmurs when her lips meets his once again.

And she finds herself crying for him. Because he is everything she has wished for, and yet he is so broken now. He is so broken and she wants so badly to be able to mend him, to heal the wounds and to erase the scars.

He opens his eyes to meet her tear-filled ones. His hand brushes the locks of hair in her face away and tries his best to offer her a hint of a smile. "Sakura," he murmurs and sighs. That hint of foreign gesture blossoms into an all-too familiar smirk. "Annoying as always, eh, Sakura? Stop crying, those tears do no justice to your pretty face."

"Sasuke-kun!" she wails angrily, but somehow the tears have stopped. She roughly brushes the proof of crying with the back of her hand, smudging the trails of tears on her cheeks, and turns serious. "Before anything else happens… I need to know one thing."

He looks at her in slight confusion; he raises an eyebrow curiously, but doesn't say anything. Instead, he waits. It's the least he can do for her.

Sakura doesn't step down. "Did you miss me, Sasuke-kun?" she is direct, trembling despite herself. But deep inside she knows she has to do this or her heart will never be put at rest. "Did you think of me just once?"

He comes even closer; his fingers place back a stray lock of her pink hair behind her ear. "No." When he moves back, he half expects her to start crying again, but he is wrong; she just smiles at him. Sasuke frowns now at the unexpected reaction.

"I knew you'd say that," she admits, voice growing weak almost unnoticeably. "You've always been very honest. But, you know, I did miss you. I missed you a lot. I…"

"Sakura…" he interrupts before any other word slips from her mouth. "I did not miss you," he is half mumbling, half whispering it to himself. Sakura looks at him, green eyes brightly settled on his face, but he is looking away. "You were… always there… constantly messing with my mind." Sakura can't believe that he is actually stumbling for words. "You're really the most annoying person I've met."

She finds herself laughing because he suddenly looks so terribly shy and awkward. He looks back at her, frowns, and looks away again. Sakura shakes her head and smiles up at him. "Sasuke-kun… Let's go home, okay?"

There will be plenty of time to heal those wounds and make him forget the horrors he has lived.

Sasuke releases a deep sigh and takes her hand. He fiddles with her fingers, staring at them and amusing himself at how small they are against the palm of his hand. His eyes find her green ones again and a sudden wave of tranquility washes over him. "Aa."


	18. Sleep

**Standard disclaimer applies.  
Author's notes: **Hello, guys! I'm back with a little bit of fluff, because in these days, we could all use a little bit more of it. There are references to the final chapter of **Jealousy**, and older three-part fic that presents Jealous!Sasuke, though you don't need to read to understand (but still, if you want to… xD). Also, the two advices were taken sort of from my daily forecast thing I get everyday... actually, it all began thanks to them... Can you find them? Anyways, I've got to go, homework is still not done yet…. Thank you all for your reviews and comments!

* * *

**Sleep  
**_13.05.2007 _

Sasuke finds her among piles and piles of hospital paperwork. He can barely see a mass of pink hair over those piles and the number of books that tower over her desk, so he walks over to stand behind her and pokes her slightly.

"Sakura," he calls and her head snaps up, suddenly alert, like one being caught about to sleep. She looks at him over her shoulder; there are circles under her eyes. "It's just me. That granny from the front desk asked me to pick you up."

Sakura rubs her eyes as Sasuke moves once again to the front and plops on one of the chairs meant for patients after putting down on the floor a few of the piles of papers and books that crowd her small office. This isn't the first time he's found her in such state.

"Again? Sorry, Sasuke-kun…" she sighs, evidently still tired, "I've told Karasuma-san not to bother you, but it seems she won't listen to me."

Sasuke looks away, eyes fixing themselves on the small frame hanging on the wall beside him. "No, it's better this way. If I don't come, you'll surely end up sleeping here, or worse, not sleeping at all and still work with no rest the next day."

He hasn't told her yet that he personally had to convince the old receptionist to call him whenever she stayed too late at work. It was a good thing that the gentle nurse had liked Sakura enough to worry about her… and that he was good-looking certainly helped in the convincing part, too.

"Ahh… you may be right in that…" She flushes a bit as she begins brushing her pink hair with her fingers nervously. Sasuke crosses his arms over his chest, a sign that he is ready to leave. She looks down at her open book. "Can I just finish reading this chapter?"

"No," the dark-haired Uchiha deadpans.

"But…" Her brow furrows worriedly. This chapter has a particular medical jutsu she's been dying to learn.

"Can't you do it tomorrow? It's not like the book is going to run away…" He rolls his eyes. She looks at him pleadingly, before a large yawn breaks her act. She flushes a bit darker and Sasuke smirks. "See? You are tired, you need to sleep."

"But I…"

"No more buts," he interjects and sighs himself. They've gone over this subject more than once; she's more stubborn than he is, and _that's_ something. "Haven't you said it before?" His onyx eyes are focusing on her again. Her green eyes are so, so tired. "Sleep is necessary, even for you, and especially at times like now. Why deprive yourself? You need to give your highly frazzled brain a rest."

"But, Sasuke-kun, I really need to…"

"I said: no more buts. Don't argue," he frowns seriously, "Just do it."

Sakura looks at him helplessly as Naruto's words ring on her head as well: "Do something nice for yourself and take a break every once in a while, Sakura-chan. You've worked hard, you deserve some rest."

"Okay, okay, I get it. Geez, you and Naruto are in this together or what?" She mumbles, something to which Sasuke barely grunts at.

She looks around and sighs wearily at the sight, a complete mess. There are papers and scrolls and books everywhere. Most of the stuff from the hospital are the orders she has already signed and others are just cases she is working on. And then, there are her research notes and the books she has practically memorized. She's also been helping out Shizune with the Godaime's paperwork, though Sasuke doesn't need to know _that_. But back to her problem, the place is a mess.

He seems to read her mind. "I'll help you clean up… tomorrow. Now we have to get you home. And I'll even put you in bed if that's what it takes to get you some decent sleep."

The dark crimson on her face contrasts against her pale face. "N-no, that won't be necessary," she protests, and another yawn finds its way out.

Sasuke arches a brow and smirks. "Then, collect your things and let's go."

She nods weakly at him and sighs one last time in defeat. She promptly begins gathering her notes and a few other things and stuffing them inside her bag. She stands up and looks at the state of her office wearily one final time, then glances back at him over her shoulder, and offers the ever-stoic young man a small smile.

"I'm think… I'm ready… Sasu…" Sakura stumbles and he catches her before she hits the floor.

Sasuke grumbles as he gazes down at her. She has fainted, clearly out of exhaustion, and upon closer inspection, now she is deeply asleep. "Figures," he mutters as he brings her up and carries her on his back. He quickly seizes her bag with his left hand and slings it on his shoulder before leaving the room.

His back is warm on the way home and Sakura smiles against it even though she's long gone to the land of dreams. It's the first time in days that she sleeps soundly.


	19. Farewells

**Standard disclaimer applies.  
Author's notes: **Hello, everyone. Almost three years ago, I began writing this piece and it was just a few days ago when I found it an old notebook. If I remember correctly, I had been around a year or so into Naruto around that time and decided I wanted to write something about manga chapter 181. As such, dialog lines bolded and in italics are taken directly from a scanlation of the chapter (I can't remember the group, sorry) and I studied the chapter so the fic went according to it. The ficlet is, after all, much about the inner workings of Sasuke's mind at the moment he departs from Konoha and leaves Sakura. I hope you like it, and if so, please review.  
Those wondering about updates: I'll try to update monthly or so, as long as school permits. For now, I know vacations won't do, as I'm off to my grandparents house these holidays. But there might be a surprise before the year ends. ;)

Happy Holidays!

* * *

**Farewell  
**_06.01.2006_

Sasuke listens closely to her every word, fervently clinging to them as she speaks and refusing them at the same time. He wishes to turn around and hold her and cry and stay with her forever; but he knows better than that, cooling his head off as he reminds himself why they are in this position in the first place. He has decided to leave; he has decided to cut any ties with this place, his home, and with the people in it that won't allow him to get as strong as he needs to be. Bonds are hindrances, weaknesses. He has given this matter more than enough thought and once his mind is set on something, there is nothing in heaven, earth, or hell that can stop him. Not even this girl.

Uchiha Sasuke has one goal in his life right now, one goal only.

"_**I know all about your past Sasuke. Even if you get revenge it won't bring anyone happiness,"**_ Sakura hesitates, biting her lower lip to the point it almost starts bleeding, but carries on anyway, _**"Not even you, Sasuke…"**_Her eyes stray to her feet and her voice drops to a whisper that he is only able to hear with keen ears, _**"nor me…"**_

"_**I already know…" **_He smirks, at her and at himself, as anger begins to get hold of him.

Of course he would know. _Dammit. Who does she think she is?_

Sakura doesn't understand, as always, because she is just a little girl in this world who knows nothing about hatred and pain. He knows about them all too well and she doesn't have the slightest idea, immersed as she is in her colorful world. He hates her for it. He hates her for being so pure while he is so tainted.

(Somehow, even when he cannot forgive her for her ignorance, at the same time he wishes for her to remain ignorant. Why is that?)

"_**Do you really want to go back to being alone? You told me how painful it was to be alone!"**_ Her voice trembles slightly as she speaks and he notices. _**"If you were to leave… I would be just as alone as you…"**_

Again, she knows nothing about loneliness; what she is saying is simply stupid. She has her parents, and Naruto, and Kakashi, and all her other friends. She is not alone, _he_ is. She doesn't need him and he doesn't need her, either. He does not.

He doesn't want to listen to her anymore but he does anyway and unconsciously yearns for her, because he knows he will no longer be able to hear the sound of her voice or the gentle whisper of her breathing, feel her warm touch or her concerned eyes on him. He will never look straight at those green eyes again, he will never be able to after this.

Sasuke's eyes stray to gray and white cobblestone floor. What is he thinking anyhow?

He is starting to hate himself more and more with every passing moment.

"_**I… I… love you with all my heart!!! I would do anything for you!!! Please, just stay with me…" **_

She sounds so fervent that her cries are almost heart-breaking, but his heart has been broken a long time ago and it can't be mended with mere words. Sasuke does not love her. He can't love her, or anyone else for the matter, because he doesn't even remember what is real love. What does it feel like to be loved? How do you love?

They remain quiet as her sobs break the silence. Clenching his teeth, Sasuke glares at his feet and thinks and thinks and thinks what to say. He is not idiotic enough to make up sweet lies to simply silence her. Sakura isn't a girl like the rest; she will not be satisfied with a vacant promise of returning home, to her, since they would both know he wouldn't keep said promise… because he does not love her back.

(It bothers him, the fact that she knows him this well. He wonders when she got this close to his core, how did he not notice it?)

He does not love her and she knows it. So why won't she go away? Why in the seven hells is this girl still here? Why does she hope that her words alone will make him stay?

The raven-haired boy raises his head, staring straight ahead at the gates that he is bound to cross.

"_**Stay with me… Or take me with you if you can't stay here…"**_

_What!? _The Uchiha opens his onyx eyes, widened in shock unseen by her.

And for a short-lived moment, one that lasts merely a fraction of a second, he wants to do what she says and take her with him, a piece of home, a piece of relief. But he can't love her, how can he do that to her? Rip her way from everything she loves, make her suffer just as much as he has, fool her with an empty promise to reciprocate a feeling he can't quite understand… It's an ugly, selfish desire that makes his already rotten heart decay a little further. What he longs for, who he longs to kill, her image stands in between of. That alone sends his mind into deeper confusion, deeper into craze. He's become helpless. What he needs to do and what he wants is all messed up.

He is leaving, he is leaving… he is leaving, _dammit_. He is leaving right now and without her, because Sakura is a hindrance.

Sasuke finally gathers the courage to look back at her, turning over his feet slightly. He looks at her with a smug look plastered upon his face and a smirk growing slowly on his lips. Cruelty is the only thing he has left._** "You really are annoying."**_

He knows that after this he will be stained with betrayal, he will die with its stench and surrounded by isolation. He cannot taint her too with such sin; he cannot chain her to such fate. He will not allow himself to do so. Besides, what if she regrets her words later - which he is sure, would inevitably happen - what if she is has to live the rest of her life in exile and filled with grief and regrets? He can't do that to her after all she's done for him. So his steps start carrying him farther from her and closer to his sins.

"_**Don't leave!! If you do I'll scream!"**_

He's too fast for her to notice the moment when he moves and suddenly appears behind her, his breath tickling the skin of her neck. She is unable to scream.

"_**Sakura…"**_ He says breathily and sees her tremble uncontrollably,_**"Thank you."**_

It's not half of what is in his mind, not half of what he wants to tell her. Parting shouldn't be this hard of a task. But this is fine with him, it's something he has decided on his own and he will follow through.

_I'm sorry._

She falls limply into his open arms, her even breathing nothing like the beating in his heart. His hands grip her sides, and if he holds her any tighter he'll leave bruises for sure. Somehow he manages to carry her to the concrete bench. This is the last time he will be this close to her, this is the last time he'll take in the girl's scent, and this is the last time he will have to see the tears running down her cheeks.

He feels a blow in the pitch of his stomach. Is this sadness what shows in his eyes?

_No. _

It cannot be so, for something as feeble as feelings shouldn't be able to get this deep under his skin. He's an Uchiha… He is the last member of the great and honorable Uchiha Clan of Konoha, Uchiha Sasuke. There is no more need for explanations.

"Farewell, Sakura."


	20. River

**Standard disclaimer applies.  
Author's notes: **Hello everyone! It's been a while since I uploaded something, so I went through my old scribbles and stuff and I found something I've previously posted on my journal. Now seems like a good enough time to share it, so I took some time to re-write a few bits and add some others. It's rather old, I should say, but even so share your thoughts on this drabble. I'll do my best to come up with new things, as long as work/school lets me. Manga readers, any one feels like strangling Sai like me?

* * *

**River  
**_30.04.2005_

They stopped by the road that faced the river and leaned over the rails to watch the water flow under them. She knew this was now his favorite place of the whole village, aside for the secluded property that had formerly been the prosperous Uchiha clan's side of the town. He likes it here, where not many wander about, where the murmurs of the people don't reach his ears, and where he can not sense the worried and suspicious glances thrown his way.

They were quiet for more than ten minutes, the slightest move from them making the wooden railing creak, before she finally broke the silence.

"I still love you, you know?" The girl said in casual and straightforward voice. Sakura straightened up and faced him, sighing inwardly at her silliness. It wasn't what she had been planning to tell him when she asked him to take a walk with her, but the words had fluttered out of her mouth before she had time to think about it. As though she needed to make sure he knew.

"Why?" His unexpected question pierced the cold air as the sun went down slowly. Sasuke glared at the river below him, his scowl intensifying.

Something started prickling her eyes, but she bit her lower lip and pushed the tears away. She wasn't going to cry in front of him again, she had done enough of that already and knew it did nothing to either improve his icy demeanor nor make her feel less aggravated. But it was strange that he asked; perhaps he had thought her feelings fickle and easy to forget, perhaps it had been a long time since he'd heard the words spoken to him. Perhaps, just perhaps, she'd been good enough to contain every sign of emotion within her when he was near.

"You are asking me why, Sasuke-kun?" she murmured, looking at her fingers, her nails, and then the reflection of her face on the water.

He simply nodded, looking up at her and his eyes fixing on her paled face. Sakura looked up, turned his way, and smiled sadly at the boy, the corner of her lips barely curving upwards. She hadn't smiled much as of late. She hadn't slept well or eaten properly and her moods, oh those were the fickle ones; she had been like this since she had started noticing that he was changing, the way he was drifting once more into himself, that if it kept going on, they would lose him once again and then it would be too late, for real.

"I just do," she began her explanation, "I know it's foolish and it may not be worth it. I'm still too young and a little bit afraid, but I know in my heart that I love you, Sasuke." Her throat was dry and her fist clenched, but her green, green eyes did not waver, her gaze never lowered from his. "I love Sasuke simply because he is Sasuke."

And then the boy thought there was something terribly wrong going on in her head because there was no way she could love such a madman like himself. How could she still find in herself to feeling anything at all for someone so unworthy? So many demons, so much hate, so much fear. People still wavered when they looked at him, still could feel that weird and evil aura dragging behind his shadow.

Sasuke didn't move, staring at her impassively as though he was trying to understand what she had said, process it even when he had expected something along those lines. It came out in an almost gasp, a throaty reply. "I see."

He walked up to her, those three, short steps that kept them apart, and his fingers ran up to her cheek in a gentle caress and wiped away the sole tear that threatened to fall from her eyes. _'Do not cry,'_ he had repeated so many times that it wasn't necessary anymore. She leaned on his hand, a lingering second he allowed, before his warmth was stolen and his hand fell to his sides.

"Let's go back, Sakura," his voice held no evidence of emotion, but she could tell something was different on the air about him. "It's getting late." He turned around and walked towards the path that leaded to her house. Sasuke knew his way to her home without hesitating.

She breathed deeply and nodded. As she took his offered hand, a small, if somewhat vacant smile graced upon her lips once again. It had been a smile nevertheless. "Alright."

And so, she followed him… like she always did.


End file.
